Essential Need
by litlen
Summary: Logan returns for Marie and the both learn the truth.


Title: Essential Need

Rating: PG13

Category: Mainly angst mixed with shipper.

Summary: Logan returns for Marie and they both learn the truth.

Disclaimer Wolverine and Rogue and all the x men belong to Stan Lee, Marvel Entertainment, and 20th Century Fox.

I own nothing – I just borrow them but I always give them back!

Authors notes:

_**Ok – I really don't know where this fits in with the films you'll have to use your imagination but please note**__** the following:**_

_**Marie**__** has always been able to control her skin – there are no gloves or scarves in sight, mainly because I couldn't be bothered.**_

_**Scott and the **__**Professor:**__** are alive and well so they may have been in the end battle and survived or they may not. Thanks to the wonderful, talented people on this sight and their amazing stories I have been swayed from the I-don't-really-like-Scott camp to the I-really-quite-like-Scott-camp However, he forgot to take his happy pills before agreeing to be part of this story.**_

_**Jean**__** is dead and that's just the way I like her. No-one has been talented enough to persuade me otherwise yet! I do however not mind when she's being humiliated but I couldn't fit that in. Before you shout – I'm entitled to my view.**_

_**Bobby **__**does not exist. **_

_**I think that about covers it. I would however just like to point out that this was finished in a hurry as I'm going in to hospital soon and won't be able to do anything for a while. I have another half finished and hope to get that on too before I go (Big hint to anyone with a nearly completed story – I'm frantically printing of anything that comes on here completed so that I have some reading material to stop the boredom of being stuck in bed. I'm going to be in for a week and recouping for 6 so lots more material required!)**_

_**I swear there was a story in here somewhere – let me know if you can find it. It made sense to me but I'm sick to death of reading it so could just be seeing what I want to instead of what's actually there.**_

****

He loved life on the road, the freedom, only your own thoughts to bother you, the fighting – for him a good fight was always a plus and even better when you could earn shit loads of money at the same time, payment for your enjoyment was definitely another plus. Life on the road was what he knew, a life void of anything and anyone. A life certainly without luxuries, sometimes even basics - Water, food, warmth, unlike for most, these were things that he could maybe not easily, but he could go without for long periods of time, extremely handy for the life on the road, but eventually they become essential even with his particular 'gift', his healing ability can only do so much, can only go so far. After a while even basics such as these, the things other people would class as necessities of living, these simple things to him, easily became classed as luxuries.

It was not the life for most run of the mill normal people, but he was, he would be the first to admit about as far from run of the mill and even further from normal as you could get, and that small fact had absolutely nothing whatsoever to do with being a mutant. Marie had once told him that he was unique, that God had broken the mold the day he was born – well that was one way of putting it he supposed, he'd never met anyone quite like himself so maybe her statement had an element of truth to it - whether that was good or bad - well he consoled himself with the fact that she seemed to think it was good – that he was good, even though it seemed she was the only one. His explanation would centre more on the fact that he was fucked in the head, that he'd been messed with, prodded, poked and experimented on, used as a fucking guinea pig for everything you could conceive as inhumane and couldn't remember jack shit of his life, but deep down he kinda liked her ideological view.

He loved life on the road – but that was then, before he knew any different, any other way. It was what he used to feel, what felt like a lifetime ago. This last two years he'd spent on the road were nothing like it had been before, before he'd enjoyed the solitude, now he despised it, much as he'd tried to convince himself otherwise it was not the life he wanted anymore. He had been existing not living, simply surviving just as he always had –and therein lie the biggest problem. He now wanted and needed something above surviving, he wanted to live not just exist.

He was being eaten alive with pain and the longer he was on the road the worse it got and the less of him there was left. He couldn't stand it any more, couldn't stay away any more, he'd had to come back.

He had only one true necessary essential/basic need now;-

Marie.

As he stepped over the threshold his eye's automatically closed remembering all that had happened the last time he was here – Jean's death, and her funeral, all part of life and nothing he hadn't seen or dealt with before, since the beginning of time there had always been good vs. evil, life and death - He knew there always would be and he'd learned to accept it and take it in his stride, harsh for most to understand but unlike most other people, his life had taught him a lot of ways to survive, one of them was not to care. When you don't care you don't hurt, a simple statement of fact and one that had always worked for him. He knew now however, that it doesn't always work out the way you want it too despite how much you try to avoid it. Caring about someone is not always a choice, somewhere along the line you loose the ability to actually choose. Most would assume it's a gradual process that happens over time. Some would say that you can wake up one morning and it's just suddenly there, or as he had found out it can happen in a flash, quicker than it takes the heart to beat, one minute you're on one side of the line and the next seemingly not even needing your own permission - you've crossed it. And once you've gone over that line - you can get hurt. If Jean's death and the funeral in particular had taught him anything other than life was life and as such included death, It was just how far over that line he had gone. It taught him how deep his feelings for Marie were – just how much he cared and how glad he was that it wasn't her life that had ended.

He remembered vividly the smell as well as the sound of Marie's tears as he knocked on her door, she knew, he didn't know how, he'd never been able to work out how, but she'd known he was leaving.

He didn't wait for her to answer, just walked straight in; saw her lying on the bed with tears streaming down her face. The images being replayed in his mind were showing now in slow motion as he walked over and knelt at the side of her bed, his hand reaching out to wipe away her tears. "Marie darlin' what's wrong?" She had sat up and thrown her arms around his shoulders, falling from the bed and into his lap, pulling him as close as she could, holding on to him as if her life depended on it.

He remembered just how good it felt to feel her in his arms, how he didn't ever want to let her go. Back in the present, his eyes still firmly shut; he wondered briefly how a memory could be in such perfect detail. How could he see, feel and even smell everything with such clarity? As if it was happening again. Weren't memories supposed to fade?

Her tears still falling, taking a deep breath to try and steady her voice she whispered into his neck, the words vibrating on his skin, the closeness of her sending shivers down his spine. "You're leaving." It was said as a sad statement of truth and he wanted nothing more than to dispute it, to tell her it wasn't true, to tell her he would never leave but knowing he could say nothing because she was right - he was leaving. He held her tight, rocking her gently; his arms making smooth caressing strokes up and down her back, wanting to comfort her, wanting comfort for himself. She in turn was using her tiny hands, clawing at his back as if trying to find purchase, trying to get a grip that would never let him go. On 'auto pilot' one hand began stroking her hair, massaging her head and neck as his other began stroking her waist and hip. He remembered how his eyes closed as he began breathing in her scent, never wanting to forget, wishing there was another way, one that meant he didn't have to leave her. He kissed the side of her face as her head nestled between his shoulder and his neck. He could still almost feel and taste her skin, it had been the briefest of touches yet he'd felt more alive in that moment than at any other point in his life. Slowly she lifted her head, her eyes meeting his, searching, wanting, hoping. His hand moved from the back of her head to the side of her face, his thumb gently caressing, sliding along her bottom lip. Inching forward, their eyes locked, his lips slowly descended on to hers. The kiss that had started off so gentle, soon became so full of passion, full of everything they were, everything they meant to each other, everything that given time he hoped they could be, but as comprehension of his actions started to dawn on him he gentled the kiss and began to pull away. He watched her eye's fill once again as she realized he'd stopped.

"I won't be gone forever, I will come back"

He remembered taking one last look at her eye's, watching as her tears fell, knowing that they were for him before he walked out of the room and away from her. The expression on her face was one he had tried hard but failed miserably over the last 2 years to forget. It haunted his nights as well as the days; over and over again he would see her pain and feel his own.

It was late and the hallways were not surprisingly empty as he began searching, using scent as well as sight. He walked impatiently; he'd waited a long time, enough time, but the thought he didn't want to cling to was that maybe he'd waited too long. He slowed and stood outside a door, her scent so strong it had to be her room and he didn't want to wait, he'd waited long enough so he just strode right up and knocked. All thoughts left him as he finally saw her, his memories had not faded - She was just as he'd remembered. Everything.

She opened the door and he could see the shock and surprise in the slight widening of her eyes and the slight drop in her lower jaw. He wanted to throw his arms around her, hold her tight and never let her go but as he made to move forward he not only saw but felt as she tensed, her face turned hard, the only thing visible was pain.

"Hey" he stood right in font of her, his breath catching at the closeness of her, his eye's not able to hide his smile but it fell at the knowledge that he could sense the hurt within her.

She kept hold of the door with one hand and leaned the other on the frame, effectively blocking his entry. "Hey" She had looked him right in the eye but there was no smile and her voice was cold as she continued "I'm busy Logan"

"Too busy for me?" he meant to make it sound more of a joke but he realized it came out sounding just as he felt – Broken.

"Yeah" was her simple reply. Short and to the point. Disconsolate.

This was not going the way he wanted it to. In all his scenarios, none had included her not wanting to see him at all, he could live with anything, whatever she was willing to give, but not that. "Can we talk later then?" he sounded like he was pleading and realized that he was but he didn't care.

"Do we really have anything to talk about?"

She was angry; he could understand that, he could deal with that, as long as there was something. "Marie?"

"What?"

"I missed you" He wished he could say it better, find some smart words that would make her understand how much.

"You knew where I was."

He had, and it had taken everything in him every day not to come running back. She was angry and hurt, which was not a good combination and the worst part was - he knew he was the cause of it.

"Marie? Don't be like that, please, I need to talk to you, I wanna explain, I wanna……

Want to what Logan?

"Do we have to do this here? Can't we…..If you don't want to let me in, come for a walk with me?" She was getting angrier by the minute, the last thing he wanted was a screaming match but it was beginning to feel like she needed one and if it was going to help he'd let her shout to her hearts content, he just didn't particularly want it happening while standing in the hallway where anyone could see and hear.

"I don't have time right now – and….well .…exactly how long do you think you'll be staying this time?" Her voice dropping the anger and replacing it with sarcasm.

"Marie, I told you I wouldn't be gone forever, I told you I'd be back for you."

That statement seemed to enrage her and it felt like her eyes were now burning him.

"No what you told me was you'd be back – you never said you'd be back for me and even if that's what you meant why the fuck did it take you 2 years Logan, If you wanted me, why did it take you two fucking years?" She hesitated and briefly dropped her eyes as she asked "Did you want me Logan?"

"You know I did….Do."

"So that's why your back? For me? And you what? – expect me to welcome you back with open arms, tell you I missed you, let you have your fun now you've finally what? - grown a pair, decided I'm worthy of you, that I'm old enough for you? – I don't know what your reasons are, why you suddenly think everything's different now or everything will be ok now. Then what huh? I sit around and break into tiny pieces when I have to watch you walk away from me again? I don't think you have any idea how hard that was for me – what your leaving did to me. I know you think I had some sort of silly crush, some sort of infatuation or hero worship, but it wasn't, it was love, it was real and it was deep, the kind of love that burns into your soul, the kind of love that never leaves you no matter what. I didn't ask for it but I felt it none the less and the worst part was that deep in my heart I know you felt it too, yet you still left. I can't go through that again Logan. I can't let you do that to me again."

Pure desperation was now coursing through his veins; he thought she'd understood, how could she think it was her who wasn't worthy? How could she think that he wanted to leave? He started to feel angry - with her, with himself, with the whole fucked up situation he now found himself in.

"Do you think it was any different for me? Do you think it didn't take everything I had and then some to walk out of that door? Do you not think that it broke me too?" Christ he wanted to hit something, everything was wrong; this wasn't how it was supposed to be.

Her own anger suddenly dissipated and the hurt came to the forefront of her voice. "Then why Logan? Why did you leave? Why didn't you just stay? Why couldn't you have just stayed with me?"

"You know me Marie"

"I thought I did"

"No, you do, you know me like no-one ever has and it has nothing to do with me being in your head."

"Why is that such a problem? You know me too."

His frustration was now getting the better of him and he knew everything he needed to say would come out wrong, everything was going wrong. "It's a big fucking problem and you know it, you know everything Marie from the inside out, I aint a good person, I don't have anythin'. I know you and you're everything I'm not; you deserved so much more, someone that wasn't me. I had to give you the time to find out if what you felt was real or not. I had to give you the chance for something else – someone better than me."

"So why come back? why if you don't think you're good enough for me did you come back? I spent all this time thinking that I was the one not good enough for you, that I wasn't enough, that I could never be what you needed me to be"

"Never think that Marie, You will always be more than enough, everything I could ever wish or hope for. Everything I could ever need. I didn't think it would be so fucking hard to leave yet alone stay away. , I've always been on my own, I thought after a while I'd go back to the way things were, that I wouldn't ever forget you but that it wouldn't hurt so much, that I'd be able to come back and know that you'd been with someone else even if it was just so you knew that I was what you really wanted, or you'd be with someone else and be happy and that maybe I could be happy for you. I wanted you Marie more than anything, don't you ever believe any different, I didn't know how to put into words everything I felt, I knew I wanted you, I knew you were somehow mine, that I would always want to come back and make you mine, but I needed you to want me just as much. I didn't realize that the more I stayed away the harder it would get, that I would feel even more. I love you Marie, I just had to give you time. However or even if anyone can ever describe or explain love I know that I did and that I do love you. You're the only thing that matters or has ever mattered to me; I thought it was the right thing to do."

"I didn't need time Logan, Maybe you did, but I didn't. I knew it would only ever be you. You already had my heart – It was never there for anyone else. You left me alone, and that's just what I've been – alone."

"I thought…..I thought for once in my fucked up existence I did the right thing – I'm sorry."

"Sorry for what exactly Logan – loving me? Leaving me? What are you sorry for?"

"Never for loving you Marie. I'm sorry for not trusting how you felt about me, I'm sorry for leaving you and most of all I'm sorry that I hurt you."

"You should have talked to me"

"I fucked up didn't I? I should have known, after all - fucking up just about sums up my entire life, only this was the only time it ever mattered."

"I really need to go Logan"

"Can we talk some more later?"

"I don't know…..maybe…..I'll come and find you ok?"

"Ok…..I do love you Marie. Whatever you think - I do love you."

Breathing in her scent one last time Logan stood and watched as she quietly shut the door, hoping that she would come to see him and trying not to think what he would do if she didn't.

It was only about an hour later and he began to think that all his hoping had paid off as he heard the gentle knock on his door.

"Hey"

He noticed the softness was back in her voice, but her eye's still betrayed her and he could see the hurt behind them.

"Hey" he pulled the door wide open and left it as an invitation. He sat on the edge of his bed, wondering whether she would come and sit with him like they used too.

"Just let me say what I've come to say ok?"

"Ok" he was disappointed, she stayed by the door. Her eyes seeking out his but her body seemingly having no intention of moving. He wanted to close the gap that had formed between them and not just the physical one, but everything had gone so wrong he had no option but to give her the space she needed.

"Every day since you left, I wished that you hadn't, I wished that I could have done something or said something to make you stay. I wished I knew why I would have had to make you stay, wished I knew why you didn't or if you had to go why I couldn't go with you. I loved you so much and I knew…..I knew that you loved me too. As well as being upset, lost and hurt I was angry, I'm still angry and because of that anger I'd love to be able to tell you that I got over you, that I'm ok, that I've been ok - but I can't. I'm not ok and I never got over you and I don't think I ever can – but you could leave right now and I wouldn't be any worse – if I let this happen….let us happen, and then you leave……I wouldn't survive again."

"Do you still love me?" he had to know, prayed it was yes and that he had a chance, but either way he had to know. He didn't realize that he'd stopped breathing as he waited for her answer.

"It doesn't matter"

"It does to me"

"Yes, but it doesn't change anything, we both loved each other before"

"I won't leave you"

"How do I know that?"

"I can't do it again - Trust me and if you can't – touch me, turn on your skin and take a look for yourself."

"I'm not going to hurt you Logan. I know you heal but I also know touching me hurts like hell. You're already up there remember? I know how much it hurts. You're the only person I have ever trusted, but your asking me to trust you not to do something you've already done, I want to but I don't know if I can."

"If you won't touch me I'll still prove it to you, whatever it takes Marie I can't live without you in my life"

"I didn't need it before, but I do now…..I need time."

"I'm not going anywhere, I'll be here,"

It was a start Logan thought. He felt relief wash over and right through him – she loved him and that was enough for now. He'd wait, he'd prove it to her, whatever it took and there wasn't anyone who was going to stand in his way – which reminded him – there was someone else he needed to see.

"Chuck"

"Logan, It's a pleasure to see you, are you staying long?"

"As long as it takes"

"Logan I hope your not thinking of…………" The professor was interrupted by the sound of Scott barging into his office.

"What are you doing back?"

"What the fuck do you think I'm doing back one eye? I told you both I'd leave, I told you I'd give her time but I also told you I'd come back."

"Logan she is still young"

"Yeah she is but she loves me." He couldn't hold back the little smirk that formed as he said the words just as he couldn't help the feeling of hope that her saying it had given him.

"I believe I explained this before Logan, It's not love, not real love."

"You know what chuck – I don't give a fucking shit what you think anymore, she say's she loves me and I believe her, I let you talk me outta this once but I'm sure as hell not gonna let you do it again."

"Logan, nothing's changed, she still has the chance of a normal life, she's young, she's infatuated with you yes but don't you get it? You're her hero, her night in shining armour. I don't doubt that you have some level of feelings for her but I do doubt her feelings for you."

"Logan I'm afraid I have to agree with Scott ….."

"I won't doubt her again, I won't doubt myself again. You no nothin' – neither of you, everythin's changed. I fucked up by letting you two tell me that what was best for her wasn't me. But you know what? You're wrong. She's angry with me right now but she still loves me and I'm not going anywhere without her ever again – Is that simple enough for ya? He didn't look back as he stormed out of the room.

Marie had heard raised voices and curiosity had got the better of her. She'd overheard the whole conversation. - She now knew why he'd left - Scott and the professor had convinced him she didn't love him.

She watched as Logan had left, surprised that his senses had not picked up on the fact that she was there but his anger as well as his need to escape was more than evident. He wasn't leaving though she knew enough to trust that now. He'd left heading towards the garden and she presumed that he would stop off in the kitchen for a six pack to go along with the cigar he was probably already smoking. She hoped that he was calming himself because that would mean at least one of them was. Her anger had steadily increased and had now hit an all time high and it was time for some anger management.

As she burst into the professor's office she made a start on her anger management and slammed the door behind her as hard as possible. A small smile of pure satisfaction crossing her face as she revelled in the loud bang and the following rattle as it shook slightly against the frame.

"How dare you" Marie almost screamed at the two people sitting in front of her.

"Rogue, please try and calm yourself." The professor's usually calm voice sounding more than a little shocked at her tone.

"I heard all of your conversation with Logan and I'd just like to ask you what the fuck you thought you were doing trying to run my life for me?"

"I assure you that we only pointed out to Logan that you were young and needed to be allowed to grow up in a safe and loving environment – something which he himself could not and can not give you."

"God you make me sick – for all your education, the sum of all you actually know is fuck all." She did not disguise the venom in her voice as her anger stepped up yet another notch.

"Rogue!" Scott was shocked to say the least at her tone and was convinced more than ever that Logan was the bad influence.

"Shut up Scott. Take that stupid patronizing look off your face and just shut up. So you thought you were doing the best thing for me? You thought that I wasn't safe with Logan? That you were protecting me? Or was it that you thought I was so stupid that I didn't know my own mind or my own feelings? You thought because you're older than me that it automatically makes you wiser?"

"Rogue my dear, no-one was or is saying that you were stupid, Far from it, you are an intelligent young woman. But it is sometimes easier to see things when you are not on the inside – you were 17, and love at that age always feels more than it actually is. You needed time to discover yourself. You are still only 19 and I assure you that your feelings will change." Not for the first time the professor wished he could enter rogues mind and somehow show her how she was mixing up her feelings.

"Rogue much as you don't want to hear this, Logan is not the most stable of men, he doesn't know what it's like to be responsible for someone else. He doesn't know what it is to love someone, how to love, to take care of them – you really think he would have settled down, given you a home, stability, got a job? or would you have just been dragged around the Canadian fight circuit living in the back of a camper? You needed protecting Rogue – You needed protecting from him. You still do." Scott was seriously loosing his own patience now, how could she not see what Logan was really like?

"Fuck you Scott"

"Rogue please calm yourself" the professor had never seen Rogue so full of animosity, fully aware that the situation could get out of hand if he couldn't calm her down soon.

Marie walked over to Scott and stared down at him, her fist slamming hard against the desk, the impact hard enough for her to catch both Scott and the Professor jump slightly. "Did you love jean?"

"I really don't think that's relevant"

She could see the slight flash of hurt go across his face as he spoke but she wasn't going to let him off that easily. "Just answer the fucking question Scott."

"Yes"

This time Scott's face held firm, showing no emotion, but Marie was determined to change that, she had to make him understand if only a little. "Would you have done anything for her? If she needed something, anything would you have given it to her?

"Of course"

She could see the slight cracks begin as she continued "Would you have only have loved her if you had money, a house, a job – or would you have loved her anyway? And more to the point would you have had a fucking choice? Would you have followed her to hell and back, just to be with her? "

"This is not about Jean and me."

Marie smiled slightly as she noticed Scott's eye's were no longer on her but downcast towards the floor. "No? What is it about? Your ability to know what I feel, what Logan feels? The fact that you know all this because what? You know what its like to love? You don't know Logan at all; you don't know me at all. I had to leave home and live on the road – how many of the people I met along the way do you think looked at me and said I'd better leave her alone, treat her right cause she's only 17? In eight months it's surprising how many people you can meet. And only one ever treated me like a human being, like I was worth something – funny seeing as he was a mutant, the one that you think is an animal, the one that you think doesn't know how to care, let alone love. Since I've been here with you, he's still been the only one to treat me that way. He's been gone for 2 years and he's still the only one – what does that say about you? What does that say about my life here? You don't know him, either of you; you don't know him at all. I know him better than anyone, I have him in my head and he's a part of me because of that - but I knew everything I needed too – more than you ever will – before we ever came here."

Marie was trying hard to stop the tears from forming but she was fighting a loosing battle. She could hear it in her own voice. Staying angry was not a problem, Scott and the professor were making that easy but she wanted to stay strong, crying wasn't going to help her make them understand.

"I realize that it must have been hard for you to have been thrown away from your home, from those that you loved, to have been forced to live the life that you did. But you are substituting that loss with the first good thing that happened after. Logan was your saviour not as you seem to think your love." the professor could see that this wasn't working and wondered how on earth he was going to get through to her? Her anger he thought was making her far too irrational.

"The only good thing that happened – period - but carry on - your insight and sociological bullshit is fascinating." Marie felt as though she was fit to burst. Why couldn't they listen? Why couldn't they see?

"Rogue you have been loved and cared for here but you are just choosing to ignore that fact"

Scott was really pissing her off but she was beginning to think that there was nothing left to say. "You really believe that don't you? Your definition of love and caring differs so much from mine"

"Rogue please; we are only trying to help you understand that your feelings are misguided. You are too young to know the difference."

That's it, she was wrong, there was plenty left to say. "Too young? How old am I really Scott? Am I really only 19? Do you remember the holocaust? No you don't – you teach about it, you sympathise about it but you don't have a clue what it was like to live through it."

"Neither do you Rogue" he let a small grunt escape to go along with his condescending tone.

"Yes I do. The memories I have in my head may not technically start off as mine, but they become mine, part of me. I remember it all too well. I was there. I can see it all; I can even smell it and taste it. And I've lived all the days since. I've also lived through Logan's torture something that again you will never understand and I wouldn't expect you too because you only see that he heals, you never see the pain that comes first. I've lived many lives, many lifetimes so how old am I Scott? Professor? 19? 49? 109? Logan protects me with his life which is more than you do. Here I am a commodity, useful while I last but not indispensable. He loves me which although you like to think differently, you do not. Yet he is not the type of guy for me? Tell me just who in the hell made it your decision? You had the audacity to tell him he was worthless, less than nothing, just as every one else in his life has and as if that wasn't bad enough you then tell him that he meant nothing to me! and because no-one has ever cared in the slightest for him, all that he has ever been shown before is contempt - he trusted what he knew best and believed you."

"Rogue please you don't understand….."

"No its you who doesn't understand, you don't know me and you never will because you're not willing to listen."

"You really think you love him?" Scott spat out the words as though disgusted at the thought of it.

"I don't think it Scott, I know it, and I knew the first moment I laid eyes on him that I belonged to him."

"Now rogue you're making our argument easy. No person should belong to anyone except themselves - that is not love." The professor finally thought he'd found the opening he needed.

Marie had had enough - this screaming match was going nowhere but it had opened her eye's to what she needed to do "That's where you're so wrong professor, it runs so much deeper than the simple fact that I love him with all my heart, I knew I wouldn't be able to explain it to you, I knew you wouldn't have the capacity to understand, yet I still gave you the courtesy of trying……I'm sorry I wasted my time"

"Even if you do love him as you say you do - do you really believe he is capable of loving you?

"I know he does. I know it's the same for him as it is for me. Only he felt it before he'd even seen me. Now that I have him in my head, I can feel what he was feeling then, when he was in the cage, before he turned to see me, he felt it. I belonged to him and him to me. One day perhaps you'll understand or try to. In the mean time I'll be leaving." And she smiled sadly at both Scott and the professor before making her way towards the door.

"Rogue you can't just……." Scott was furious but the professor held him back.

Marie didn't even turn around as she said "Yes I can - and I will" she closed the door behind her and sighed. But as she looked up she couldn't help the smile that crept on to her face.

"Marie"

"What are you doing here?"

Her anger was all gone; her eye's now showing him nothing but love. If he lived for all eternity he would never see such a beautiful sight as that. He couldn't help but smile. "Listening to you, Chuck and Scott."

"You heard all of that?"

"I kind of got the gist of it I think - I love you – you love me – and we're leaving, together this time."

"Wow – seemed to take a lot longer the way I remember it, but yeah that about sums it up."

"I love you" Logan couldn't wait any longer and pulled her into his arms. It was just as he remembered. It felt good, more than good, it felt right and this time he would make sure it stayed that way.

"I love you too." Her words were slightly muffled as she let her self be enveloped by his arms and held tightly against his chest.

He kissed the top of her head as he almost chocked out the words "I'm sorry – you know that right?"

Pulling back to look into his eye's Marie saw no more pain, no more anger or confusion, just the joy at being loved "I know, just listen to me from now on ok – you're a good man Logan don't ever let anyone ever tell you any different. Don't let yourself believe anything different. You are all that matters to me." She leaned up and pressed her lips gently against his.

"Ok" He was more than OK he realized – he was alive. He had Marie and he was finally complete.

He stole another quick kiss before pulling away. "Let's go - you need anything?" He hoped not – he'd buy her anything she wanted as long as they could get out of here as quick as possible.

"You, us, that's all I'll ever need."

"Sound's good to me darlin'"

Epilogue

I for some reason have never been able to read or track Logan or Rogue, but I know of someone who can and she can read their emotions too. I have never told her the whole story of what happened only that they left, that I worry about them and wish to make sure they are safe, which was and is true. She must sense that there was more to it because despite my repeated requests she has never told me where they are, although she has assured me that if she ever felt the situation required me to know, she would inform me immediately. She delights in telling me how much this couple are in love. She even once told me she'd never felt such a strong connection between two people before (or since). It apparently was and is so much deeper than the type of love that the majority of people enjoy. She smiles every time she reads them; she say's they're blessed and that she wishes everyone could feel what and as much as they do.

They've been happy all this time, much to Scott's annoyance, and it's been nearly twenty years now. All this time Scott has stayed angry and adamant in his belief that they were wrong for each other despite all the evidence to the contrary. I however, am enough of a man to admit that I was wrong in assuming that I knew best; when the truth was, even with everything I had seen in the world, I knew very little and I still had a lot to learn.

As time has gone on, I have realised that I am happy for them; they found something that few people do - they complete each other somehow. I do not claim to understand it but I have learnt that I do not need to.

It would appear that a 17 year old girl and a man with a tortured soul, who each in their own way barely existed in their isolated and solitary lives, knew more about love, than the rest of us even when put together would know in a lifetime.

THE END

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